Network Marketing by Design

I’ve been working with systems-based marketing for years, both in my own business and as a consultant for other businesses.  Reading the book, E-Myth, in the late 90’s was a huge turning point for me in the way I saw my network marketing business evolving and the decisions I’ve made over the years in both choosing and working with companies. Working “on” my business rather than “in” my business made good sense and was exactly what Michael Gerber and others like Robert Kiyosaki of Rich Dad, Poor Dad fame taught as part of building wealth. Both advocate building marketing systems to run your business.

I’m not talking about the cookie cutter systems that you often pay extra for and are offered as part of a network marketing opportunity, or the affiliate based, so called list building systems that you can partially customize but ultimately end up branding and promoting other leaders in the industry instead of posturing yourself as the leader.

I’m referring to building your personal marketing funnel system that brands You, Inc! You can have internet marketing and social media skills that attract people to you, and that is a great foundation, but you must put the pieces of the puzzle together to brand yourself as a leader and monetize through building a system that creates cash flow. If you don’t, then you’re spinning your wheels trying to create a profit making list and an empowered team.

Through the incredible click by click video training offered through Renegade Professional, many have learned the skills but still haven’t seen the success they envisioned. As a result, I’m creating an e-book called “Systemize to Monetize” and will be coaching people in how to develop and launch their personal online system for their niche business.

I recently interviewed Mike Klingler, the founder or Marketing Merge and Renegade Professional internet marketing training and he saw the same lack as I did. He is getting ready to launch a new training program called Marketing Funnel Mastery. Listen to what he has to say about this obstacle and what he is creating to overcome it and help people achieve their goals.

 

He’ll be launching this training around May 12th. The good news is that anyone who is an active Renegade Professional member prior to May 12th will be grandfathered into the training for free. So, you get the best of his new click by click Marketing Funnel Mastery training as well as the 150+ hours of internet and social media marketing training already archived in the Renegade Professional video library. And, you can engage your team by bringing them along to learn and use the amazing new user friendly tools that will be introduced.

Enroll now or reactivate so you don't miss this missing link in your online success system.

A lot of people are getting on Twitter without a clue of what they are doing. In fact, Hubspot just published their June 2009 State of the Twittersphere Report using a range of stats collected from the approximately 4.5 million Twitter profiles on Twitter Grader that shows just how many are not effectively interacting.

Even though Twitter is attracting up to 10,000 new users a day, many of those people are neither tweeting nor following, and I’ve had friends and followers who express frustration in not really understanding how to use this microblogging platform. A recent study by Harvard Business showed 90% of tweets came from 10% of Twitter users. With the heavy promotion by Oprah, CNN, and Ashton Kutcher, many people, especially the millennials, joined to follow their favorite celebrities.

Hubspot reports the average user tweets 0.97 times per day and according to them “many of the accounts on Twitter aren't actually using it all that much”. (Shown by these results)

• 79.79% failed to provide a homepage URL
• 75.86% of users have not entered a bio in their profile
• 68.68% have not specified a location
• 55.50% are not following anyone
• 54.88% have never tweeted
• 52.71% have no followers

To help you get the best start, here are some Twitter basics that will help you attract more attention.

1. Include your homepage url in your profile. Getting traffic to your site should be one of your key objectives, so why not make it easy to find. It also eliminates the need to constantly tweet your link, which appears as spamming and self promoting.
2. Create a bio that tells people who you are and what you do. Use key words that will attract people to your niche and show up on Twitter searches so people with a common interest can find you. Also post a picture or avatar, if that’s what best defines you. Many people will not follow new people who have no picture or bio.
3. Include a location that will allow people in your part of the world to find you easier. With local tweet-ups becoming more popular, this allows you to connect with Twitter users nearby for socializing and networking. The more specific, city vs state, the more targeted your following.
4. Start following relevant people with similar interests. On Twitter, following others is the way to be followed, and 55% of people are not following, so is it any surprise that nearly 53% have no followers? Don’t expect a following to come without some action on your part.
5. Tweet! Just start. You’ll get the hang of it as you start following others and see what people are tweeting about.

There are some key guidelines for creating relevant and value based content in 140 character or less that attracts without spam, but I’ll clue you in with another post. For now, just be ahead of the 80%-90% not doing much with Twitter and get involved!

I had the most dynamic customer service experience when purchasing a laptop last week. It made the $1800 spent satisfying instead of painful. It also was a great business building lesson that has everything to do with attraction marketing.

I had every intention of coming home with an HP laptop computer that I had researched and determined would be within my budget and provide the features I needed. What I got was a salesman who guided me in making a better decision, saved me money, and offered more value for the money spent. 

Applying these customer service strategies to your network marketing business will make you someone people want to return to again and again as an attractive source of information and support.

1. Build rapport: The first thing he did was get to know us. My husband and I are currently residing in Australia, and it was obvious by our accent that we were American. He was from Uruguay, so our initial conversation was about our experiences in coming to Australia. It was genuine and comfortable. He then shared his background in electronics, and what resulted was a feeling of trust that he knew about computers and had our best interests in mind. We felt totally at ease with him and never once felt like he was trying to sell us something. Are you taking the time to build relationship first?
2. Listen: Next, he listened to what we were looking for. I had clarity about what I wanted, had done my research, had shopped other vendors, and had even gone to this store previously and selected which computer I planned to purchase. What happened from here, though, was the key in taking notice of his sales skills. Because he had an extensive knowledge of computers, and had laid the foundation of trust and rapport through casual conversation first, we were open to his expertise. Are you taking the time to listen to what your clients want and need?
3. Ask the Right Questions: From there, he simply asked all the right questions. He asked me if I wanted to save $100 on the purchase…who wouldn’t? He asked me if I knew that another company, a less known brand, made the components for the HP computer I intended to purchase. No, I didn’t. He asked me if I’d rather have a 2 year over a 1 year warranty. Of course I would. And, he asked me if I’d rather rely on a local service center in the US or Australia, or have access to service anywhere in the world. The worldwide option looked attractive to me. In addition, I would get a complete pack of extra components for free and be getting the exact same features as the HP, minus one small item that I didn’t need anyway. Are you asking questions that will guide your client to make a decision that they feel good about? 
4. Offer Options: In the interest of saving me money and providing better value, he brought me an option that allowed me to choose something that was possibly better for me. There was no pressure and I felt no agenda on his part. He simply educated us and allowed us to make our own decision. Are you setting aside your own agenda to give your client choices?
5. Do More Than Expected: He walked us through the purchase process personally. He served us coffee while we filled out the forms. He picked up the computer from the warehouse himself, brought it to the counter for checkout, and made sure we got everything we needed. Then, lastly, he carried it out to our vehicle for us. He could have just as easily passed those menial tasks to others, but he personally made sure that we were satisfied to the end. Both my husband and I commented on the excellent service we had just experienced…something not as common in today’s business world. Are you offering people more than they expect?

A few days later we needed a cable and program to transfer some data from my old laptop to the new one. Guess where we went and who we looked for? And we’ll return to him every time we need computer help because we trust his service. 

Today is the perfect time to put these lessons into practice. You have something of value to offer. Enthusiastically give genuine service that provides others with lasting satisfaction and that feeling of being special. In doing so, you will be an attraction magnet.

Determining what makes a person right for you is probably one of the keys in creating business success. Remember in "Network Marketing by Design" you are responsible for creating the type of business that reflects your values, has a distinct need and mission to fulfill in the marketplace and in the lives of those who join you, and provides the environment that results in you and others who join you achieving their goals.

People will follow you…not your company or products. So, you need to be clear about YOU first. Ask yourself these questions.

• Do I reflect the mindset of a leader?

That doesn’t mean you have to be making a six figure income and already be a top performer. It means you see yourself as someone who can lead with confidence and believes you can attract other leaders. If you want strong leadership on your team, you need to posture yourself as a leader.

•  Can you provide value to others? Are you willing to give before you get and do you have something worthwhile to give?

People are attracted to those who provide something they want and your value in the marketplace will attract those who need or want what you can provide. Others who offer value will also be more attracted to you as partners. Make giving a priority!

•  Can you communicate effectively with all personality types?

Not everyone is going to be just like you. Yes, you attract people similar, but a strong team will be made up of many talents and motivations and having good people skills will make you a more attractive person to a greater variety of people. It’s important to grow relationships of trust first, and communication is a key to building relationships that often expand into deeper friendships

Mike Dillard’s Magnetic Sponsoring is a great resource for developing a stronger leadership mindset. If you want to learn more about “alpha” leadership and posturing and why that is important in attraction marketing, I recommend purchasing the book for your library and referencing it often. He has been one of my key mentors in network and internet marketing and I’ve received incredible value from him.

The next step is having clarity about the type of person who isn’t just “right”, but is right for you. Write down the qualities you desire in a strategic partner. Keep in mind the core character traits that are needed for home business success and look for those as you communicate with people. Keep your list close and use it as a reminder to ask the questions that will help you select the right person for you.

Stay away from the mindset that everyone who shows up is “right”. Steer clear of the poverty mentality that tries to convince you to enroll everyone, whether they’re right or not. You’ll have a lot more fun, establish a more effective business, better serve your team members, as well as make more money if you have the perfect people joining you. That’s using attraction marketing to design a win/win for your network marketing business.

Magnetic sponsoring…attraction marketing…exactly what does this mean? Wikipedia doesn’t even have the answer, but in today’s world of social media and internetworking it simply refers to the ways network marketers and internet marketers in general are attracting people to themselves in business relationships that are mutually fulfilling and compatible.

The truth is that your perfect business prospects and product customers are looking for you and often times all you need to do is slow down, and show up in a way that makes you available for those looking for what you provide.

This seems simple minded for those who been taught to pursue, convince, even shove products and opportunities down the throats of those they care about.

Whether that has been a successful model or a complete failure for you, I’m here to tell you there is another way. You can build your network business the old way or the smart way. You can use attraction marketing, the power of internetworking, and magnetic sponsoring to find the “perfect” prospect. And you can create cash flow, provide incredible value, and build lasting relationships in the process.

How do you know when a prospect is a perfect fit? Well a lot of that depends on who you are trying to attract. There are some clear criteria of what makes a person right and some steps you need to take to target the market you desire to reach. All of this is part of "Network Marketing by Design". You can choose who you want to work with by following a few key steps in posturing yourself for success.

 So where do you start? I’ve found an exceptional resource in Renegade University. This step by step web-based training using Web 2.0 and social networking will guide you in designing your network marketing business with intention and results. You’ll become more visible so your perfect prospect can find you.